No. 2 Kentucky outlasts Tennessee for 65-62 win

By Kyle Tucker, The Louisville Courier-Journal

LEXINGTON, K.Y.
–
In a perfect world for University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari, his veterans would take the wheel and drive the Wildcats in crunch time. But he could do worse than his current reality: turning instead to star freshmen Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Anthony Davis and letting them will UK to a come-from-behind win on the road in the Southeastern Conference.

By Wade Payne, AP

Kentucky's' Darius Miller made two critical free throws the final 20 seconds of Saturday's game to help the Wildcats squeak past Tennessee.

Kentucky's' Darius Miller made two critical free throws the final 20 seconds of Saturday's game to help the Wildcats squeak past Tennessee.

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Dragged into yet another ugly, physical game at Tennessee on Saturday, the Wildcats struggled early. Five of their top six players had two fouls by halftime of a game that featured 42 total fouls and often resembled the New Year's Eve slugfest with rival Louisville. Kentucky trailed at the break and was still behind with 10 minutes to go in the game.

Then Kidd-Gilchrist slashed to the rim, soared to the basket, got fouled in flight and powered through the contact for a ferocious dunk that briefly quieted a rowdy, capacity crowd at Thompson-Boling Arena. His three-point play tied the game and ignited a gritty finish for the Cats, who escaped with a 65-62 win.

"Gilchrist is one of the best in the game," Volunteers coach Cuonzo Martin said afterward.

The rookie swingman finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and a block. Six of his rebounds were on the offensive glass, none more important than the one in the game's final minute, with Kentucky (17-1, 3-0 SEC) leading by six points. Kidd-Gilchrist ripped it down, kicked it out and set up Davis to swish a hook shot with 45.4 seconds left.

Davis, still developing an offensive post game, said afterward he's only recently added that hook. Calipari said he'd never hit a shot like that "in his life." Davis finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, four blocked shots, two steals and two assists. He came up one block short of tying Kentucky's single-season record (83) in just 18 games.

Highlights: No. 2 Kentucky - Tennessee

"The thing that we had is our young players had a will to win," said Calipari, whose four freshmen combined for 47 of 65 points and 23 of 35 rebounds for Kentucky.

The coach was still irked that veterans Doron Lamb, Terrence Jones and Darius Miller didn't play better - tougher, especially -- in the game's first 20 minutes. Forward Jeronne Maymon had 10 points and seven rebounds for the Vols (8-9, 1-2) by halftime.

Freshman Jarnell Stokes, a former five-star recruit and Kentucky target who enrolled at Tennessee this month, made his college debut and also gave Cats fits in the paint. Stokes, who's 6-foot-8, 250 pounds and wears size 20 sneakers, came off the bench and went right at Jones.

He sank a hook shot for his first bucket, then drained a long jumper in Jones' face and took a charge against Jones on the other end. Stokes had nine points and four rebounds in just 17 minutes. Jones, who fouled out with four minutes to go in the game, had 10 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots.

Calipari said Stokes makes the Vols "way better" and thinks they can be an NCAA Tournament team. As for his own squad, which he hopes can make a run at the program's eighth NCAA title, he remains slightly frustrated.

"We got out-physicaled in the first half. Again, same guys got pushed, shoved, couldn't come up with the ball and then were accepting it," Calipari said, noting that the freshmen made up for Jones fouling out and Lamb and Miller combining to hit just 2 of 11 field goals. "But we need the other guys. They've got to step up and ball.

"Look, if we want to be unique and special, we're either going to get tougher, negate the physical play people are using on us, or we're just going to be another team out there trying to win as many as we can."

Stokes' jumper over Jones made it 21-15 in favor of the Vols with 9:12 left in the first half. But the Cats answered, rattling off a 13-4 run to seize the lead with 3:36 left before the break. The remainder of the half was a disaster for Kentucky.

The Wildcats missed their final five shots and committed six fouls to help Tennessee score the last nine points and lead 34-28 at halftime. Kidd-Gilchrist wasn't happy.

"He was a man who came into the locker room mad and really feisty, because we weren't playing like we were supposed to," Davis said. "We had a talk and said, 'Man, we're not losing this game. Let's go out here and let's be tougher, be more physical, and let's get out here and win.' "

Kentucky fell behind by eight early in the second half, used an 8-1 run to close the gap, and then after Gilchrist's violent slam and free throw tied it at 50-all with 9:28, never looked back.

Davis wowed the crowd by snagging an off-target lob with one hand, while twisting in the air, then landing and going back up to score. Kidd-Gilchrist buried a three-pointer with 4:46 left to begin building a cushion, then snared that critical offensive rebound to set up Davis' hook in the final minute.

The Cats got one last scare when the Vols splashed back-to-back threes to cut the lead to 62-60 with 27.8 seconds left. But finally, a veteran stepped up.

Miller broke a full-court press and got fouled. He sank two clinching free throws with 19.4 seconds left, and Kentucky, which went 2-6 in SEC road games last season, won back-to-back league games away from home.

"We snuck out of here," Calipari said. "My team knows they've got to play better by the next time we play."

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